T Times Volume 31 Issue 6 August 2011 Three Rivers Model T Ford Club P. O. Box 7083 Kennewick, WA 99336 T-Times is the publication of the Three Rivers Model T Ford Club and is published monthly solely for its members and exchange with other antique automobile groups. Editorial copy and advertisements should be sent to: Editor 218 NE A Street College Place, WA 99324 by the 25th of the month for inclusion in the next month s issue. Email dpeters0258@gmail.com The Three Rivers Model T Ford Club is a chapter of the Model T Ford club of America. Membership is recommended and encouraged. Make membership requests to: MTFCA P.O. Box 126 Centerville, IN 47330. Annual local club dues are $20. Monthly meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at the Reata Springs Baptist Church, 2830 Leopold Lane, Richland, WA at 7:00 PM. Club President Vice President Treasurer Secretary 2010 Officers Marlene Coder m.coder@hotmail.com Dean Stokes dwstokes1@embarqmail.com Mike Porter Wanda Stokes dwstokes1@embarqmail.com Newsletter Editor Dale Peterson dpeters0258@gmail.com Board Members 1 Year -- Marlene Coder 2 Year -- Russ Armstrong 3 Year -- Fred Fraser Special Dates 1
Note from the Editor Summers are a time we look forward to driving our cars, vacations, and time with family in general. However, those three months sure seem to fill up our calendars. The club tries to sponsor some type of activity each month. For June there was a special dinner meeting in Grandview, July had two activities with the annual picnic and the Ritter Hot Springs Tour, and in September Bill Sheller will be treating us to another of his wonderful tours to Lyle, Washington. Most of these activities are attended by the same few people and it would be nice if we could find ways to get some of the other club members involved in our fun. Bill recently said he had some ideas and I for one would like to discuss this at our upcoming meeting. I am sure that others have some ideas and could let us know what type of activities would bring us out. Some ideas could be weekend morning coffee at a favorite watering hole like is done in Seattle, evening tech seminar and burgers like is done in Spokane, Model T skills rodeo, afternoon any and everyone invited car show and visit at an area park, or a host of other things to get us together to enjoy this great group of people and their T s. If you have a chance, invite a guest to our meetings, you don t have to be a member to come! We ll see you at the next meeting with your thinking caps. Monthly Meeting Minutes No meeting minutes to report for July, the June minutes were omitted from the last newsletter so will be included here. Three River's Model T Club June 16, 2011 The meeting was held at El Molcajetes Restaurant in Grandview, Washington. We had 17 members present with one guest, Howard Frye's daughter, Pam. It was nice to see a good turnout of members. President, Marlene opened tonight's meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Secretary, Wanda read the minutes and the corrections were noted and corrected from the May minutes. All approved. Treasurer, Mike gave his report, we have money in the bank with no income or outgoing expenses from last month. Marlene noted that the Tea and ABC house tour was cancelled. She also noted that we do have several upcoming events. We have the Pincher Creek National 2
Model T Tour coming quickly June 27th through July 1. She asked for a show of hands of those attending this tour - several members raised hands. Mike Porter reported that Wayne Williams is excited for us to attend the car show July 16th at Canyon Lakes ~ please attend. Also coming up is the Annual Picnic slated for July 21st at Howard Amon Park. Fred has reserved the Gazebo at the far end of the park toward the boat launch. Bill Sheller made the motion that we allow Mike and Linda Porter to spend up to $50 for chicken for the picnic. All approved. It is asked that you bring your side dish of either a dessert of salad and table service. Please attend as this is always a fun event. Following the Annual Picnic, will be the tour offered by Dale and Sharon Peterson to Ritter Creek in Oregon. This tour is slated for July 26th through the 28th. We will discuss this tour at the picnic, so be sure and attend to find out what is happening. Sounds like a lot of fun!! Bill Sheller has a wonderful tour in the works to Lyle Washington - September 12th through the 14th at Lyle Washington. You must make your reservations before August 1st. The hotel has only nine rooms available (none after tonight's meeting) but there are other lodging accommodations for the area. Please check it out. The tour will leave Umatilla, Oregon at 9:45 am on Monday, September 12, 2011. More information will be forthcoming. Marlene was called by Sun Terrace Retirement Center in Sunnyside asking us to please come and give the seniors rides as we have done in the past. Marlene called Haggerty Insurance and there is no problem giving rides as long as we do not asked for money to do so. No date has been set and more information will be coming regarding this tour. If you are looking for some Model T parts, contact Fred Fraser (509) 946-9850, as he knows someone in Portland that wants to sell parts. With nothing more to come before the members, the meeting was adjourned. Respectively Submitted, Wanda Stokes, Secretary 3
HANDS FROM NORTH OF THE BORDER BY Bill Sheller The Cowboys and Coal Mines Tour in Pincher Creek, Alberta was nothing short of just plain wonderful. Pincher Creek is nestled right at the base of the Rocky Mountains on Canada s Great Plains. We were busy every day being very well fed and visiting some wonderful attractions from coal mines, high country ice cold mountain lakes, a working cattle ranch, and Canada Day celebrations, which is like our 4th of July. We traveled over some delightful back country roads and witnessed scenery way past magnificent! If I had to choose my favorite day s drive, it would have to be the drive to the working cattle ranch. Not so much for the destination, although the ranch was great fun, but for the journey! That day s travel was primarily over the back gravel roads of Alberta s cattle country. By the end of the day s drive, Henry was gloriously covered in dust and dirt. Now Henry looks pretty spiffy when he s all shined up, but he looks just like a Model T Ford of days gone by when he has been down the road less traveled. Henry actually likes the taste of dust! I always start every tour with the spiffed up Henry, and whatever he gets into during the tour is his own darn fault. You won t find me in the parking lot every morning with a cleaning rag! The last day of the tour took us to Fort MacLeod, which was the headquarters for the Northwest Mounted Police and was established in 1874. They blocked off old Main Street for us to display the Model T s while we enjoyed the fort festivities. I had returned to the parked Model T s to get my jacket as a rather large Canadian family was strolling by looking at the cars. A very small boy reached out and touched Henry and was admonished by his father with a stern but loving Don t touch the cars son. You almost had to be there, but when that little boy touched Henry, his normal friendly spirit took over and I m sure I felt him nudge the child back! Now I really enjoy sharing Henry with folks, so I spoke up and welcomed each child to leave their hand print in Henry s dust, and then I would take their friendly hand shake back to Oregon with me. You could see the sparkle in their eyes, as each in turn very carefully left their various sized hand prints on Henry. Yes sir, Henry was surely the goodwill ambassador that day across the 49th parallel. I surely hope those children enjoyed Henry as much as he enjoyed them. Henry built a darn good car Yes he did! 4
Dean and Wanda Coal Miners Vintage 1927 boat ride Somewhere out on the Canadian Plains Canada / United States Border Canadian Family Henry s international Hand Shake 5
Ritter Hot Springs Tour July 26 th 28th By Bill Sheller Sharon and Dale Peterson hosted, worked very hard, and put on a magnificent mid summer tour to Ritter Hot Springs in the arid eastern Oregon country. Ritter is located South West of Ukiah, Oregon about 45 miles or so, and is nestled on the banks of the beautiful Middle Fork of the John Day River. The group assembled at Jim and Phyllis Langdon s place in Hermiston, Oregon for a 9:15 am departure. Henry and I arrived about 8:15am, with Dean 1The blissfully un-aware tourers and Wanda Stokes turning down the lane right behind me. I got Henry parked and went to help Dean un-load the Touring car, which refused to start. There was a small voice inside my head that said, You know Bill, this could turn into a real long day! When I am matching wits with a Model T Ford that refuses to start, with fuel pouring out of the carburetor horn and none getting into the engine well After removing the carburetor and getting gasoline to flow through it, not a pop! We pulled a plug, and I made a bee line for the parts store under Henry s back seat for a new set of spark plugs, which produced a running Model T Ford. By this time all the folks who were going on tour had arrived and although it was just a bit past 10:00 am, with 5 Model T s and one Model A, we were off on tour to Ritter! I drew a sigh of relief once we were underway, after starting the day with trouble and said a few words requesting; that be the end of the mishaps! It was a beautiful morning and Henry and I were excited to be off on another adventure with such good friends. The thoughts of mechanical troubles quickly faded with the hum of Henry s multitude of parts all vibrating to the symphonic melody I ve come to adore! About 3 miles from Langdon s 5 Model T s made a right turn on Edwards Road on our way to Echo, Oregon, and waited for Ellingson s and the trouble truck operated by Brian Peterson, Dale and Sharon s son! After about 10 minutes, the trouble truck shot right by the turn on Edwards Road where we sat in waiting and was GONE! Still no Gary and Sandy Ellingson, so after 10 more minutes, I thought it prudent to give Gary a call. Much to my delight, he actually answered and said he was back at Langdon s with a broken Model A and would meet up with us in Echo in his pick up. Still no sign of where Brian and the trouble truck had vanished to so Dale started out in Daisy to locate him, and continue on our journey! That little voice in my head, told me that gosh I have heard this tune before. I wasn t real sure about the lyrics, but the melody sang loud and clear this is going to be a very LONG day! Over an hour later, we 6 Downtown Echo, Oregon
located the trouble truck and were off to Echo, Oregon, about 2 miles distant. We limped into Echo about 1 hour later with Doc s Daisy barely able to pull itself. With Model T s lining Main Street the crowds started forming to look at the cars, while everyone, with a need, availed themselves of the rest room of the local café. Things went from not so good to REALLY not so good as Dale tried to get Daisy going. Another hour plus past and we were on our way to Heppner, Oregon at about 12:15 pm for our scheduled lunch stop. At about 1:45 pm we had traveled the 45 miles to Heppner and were all ready for our lunch stop! By 3:00 pm we were fueled up and headed out of town for our destination. We were about 1 hour out of Heppner, going up and over a mountain pass on our way to a fuel stop in Ukiah, Oregon, when thick black smoke appeared from the right rear brake drum of Langdon s Roadster pickup. After we got Jim stopped, it was determined the pickup needed to go on the trouble trailer. Henry and I loaded some passengers and we were off again on our memorable journey to Ritter Hot Springs! A quick stop in Ukiah to fill up with fuel for our final stretch to Ritter Hot Springs a distance of about 40 plus miles as the crow flies! We turned off of the main 395 Highway on a graveled and MOSTLY dirt and RUTS road as a short cut to our destination. It was a wonderful Model T road! As the road got a bit worse, low peddle was involved! As the road surface degraded further Daisy just ceased to run no fuel! By 6:45 pm or there about, it was determined Daisy had had enough, for today at least and needed to be towed the remaining 15 miles to Ritter. We finally made our destination at about 7:45 pm, with enough memories to last for that day! Ya know, the wonderful friendship we share in common with that darned old Model T Ford is most rewarding. Sure EVERYBODY had a very long day, but spirits remained high and after getting settled in our accommodations at Ritter, Dale and Sharon announced dinner is served! We all enjoyed a magnificent evening meal in some of the most beautiful country our Creator has provided for us. Aw yes life is GOOD! The second days of the tour, ghost towns close by were on the agenda. I missed that day as Jim Langdon and I returned to Hermiston to drop off the Roadster Pick Up and free up the trouble trailer should it be needed for the remainder of the tour. A BBQ dinner was planned for that evening and I was sure we would be back in time for that. We pulled in Ritter a 4:50 pm with an empty trouble trailer. Aw yes, let s have a relaxing dinner by the banks of the crystal clear middle fork of the John Day river. Dinner would have to wait!!!!! We gotta go and pick up Stokes touring car about 30 miles away with a suspected rod bearing failure. So, I almost got to see the ghost town! Dinner was late, but just as enjoyable. The following day, with three of the original five Ritter Hot Springs pool 7 Dale un-able to perform a miracle
Model T s still road worthy, after another great breakfast served up by Dale and Sharon, we packed up and headed for home. Dean and Wanda Stokes rode with the Peterson s and Jim and Phyllis Langdon rode with Me and the Model T. The day was very warm, as Summer tends to be at times, but Henry and I handed out ice cold water at every opportunity and we arrived safely back at the Langdon s about 4:00 pm. Thanks again to Dale and Sharon Peterson for such a wonderful tour. I would follow you anywhere! Suspension bridge over river to cabin One of two three bedroom cabins 1892 Ritter store and post office Henry built a darn good car Yes he did! For Sale Bill Betts is selling his 1912 Torpedo Roadster and his 1923 Touring. These cars are in very good condition and look great! If interested, you can reach him at (509) 529-8825. 8
Calendar August 18 September 12-14 September 15 October20 November 17 December Monthly Meeting in Richland Tour to Lyle, WA with Bill Sheller Monthly Meeting in Richland Monthly Meeting in Richland Monthly Meeting in Richland Annual Christmas Party 9
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